I have been fishing Lake Harris in Florida during the month of January with mixed results. Yesterday, Friday the 13th my luck changed. I do not have a boat in Florida so I fish from shore. I was fishing this small canal near a walking bridge. I was using my spinning rod with a small trick worm on a drop shot to try and catch some small ones and I felt the hit and my line went slack. I took up the line and set the hook. I was standing on the bank and she came right at me so I could not tell how big she was. The pads in front of me starting moving violently and I could not get her up on top, so I ran up on the bridge and worked her out of the pads. Now I could see how big she was and I landed her on the other bank.

She was 10 ½ pounds and is the biggest bass I have ever caught. I never expected to catch such a big fish in such a small canal. She was safely returned to the water after the pictures.